Minuit itching to hit the road

After a mixed 2005 it appears this year could be an exciting one for Minuit.

Their second full length album, The Guards Themselves, goes to music shops in New Zealand this week and Australia is likely to get a taste of it a bit further down the track.

Nelson trio Ruth Carr, Paul Dodge and Ryan Beehre are keen to play their unique catalogue of songs to fans up and down the country and fans are no doubt looking forward to hearing them live.

The first full album from Minuit (pronounced minwee), called The 88, was released in 2003, selling well and getting plenty of praise within the music industry.

Released through Auckland label Tardus, the new album with all its big basslines, addictive tunes and Carr's polished vocals, is likely to be just as appealing.

"It's a bit harder and there is a lot more to it. It's more meaty and chunky than The 88," Dodge says. "It's definitely a step up with production and sound but it's also very Minuit as well."

Having not played for so long, he says all are itching to get out and play it. "I think it's sounding really fresh and new. There's a lot of anticipation there."

The album was mixed in Beehre's Nelson studio and then sent to New York where it was mastered by Emily Lazar, whose work includes British electro-punk heavyweights The Prodigy.

Starting out in their hometown of Nelson as a typical guitar, bass and drums three-piece, the trio were surrounded by ever popular DJ style music.

"At that time they had The Gathering and other DJ events and that was quite inspiring. It was a powerful kind of music and had a lot of opportunities," Dodge says.

He says changing was a question of trying out the same electronic style while retaining some of their own style. The band has since stuck to making songs as opposed to creating straight dance or electronica.

The switch, however, did make Carr's role behind the drum kit somewhat redundant, but opened an opportunity for her grab the microphone instead. "It turned out that she was phenomenal," Dodge says.

The vocals on the album are as strong as the rest of it and even lines such as "I'm sorry baby, your dreams never come true, but your nightmares do," sung over and over doesn't seem to wear thin.

Dodge says The Guards Themselves was initially meant to be out about a year ago but a paralysed vocal cord almost put an end to Carr's singing future.

"The doctor initially said it could be permanent and that was such a knock for us all," Dodge says.

"Looking back in hindsight it was okay, but at the time we were thinking 'is this the end of Minuit?"'

Dodge says there was no clear explanation as to what caused the injury, but at the time Carr sounded like "a child on helium".

Fortunately for the band the problem righted itself after about nine months.

Home for Carr and Dodge over the past few years has been Nelson, Auckland and now Wellington, while Beehre has remained in Nelson.

The shifting around has caused a bit of confusion, but New Zealand, and more specifically Nelson, is where they will always claim to be from.

As is often the case, the move to Auckland was out of necessity to be near the hub of the music industry when the first album was released.

"It's so tricky being from smaller towns and trying to release records. A lot of the industry is in Auckland, so we thought if we want to do this properly let's go and live and for a year or so ... and because Tardus was in Auckland it was great," Dodge says.

The partnership with the label meant New Zealand On Air grants to make music videos were more forthcoming and those videos have been considered a big positive for the band.

They have had plenty of coverage on local music channels, which has been a big boost in terms of exposure.

The tour will keep the band busy until early April, but following that the plan is to release The Guards themselves in Australia and follow it up with a tour there.

- NZPA